Hey guys first time posting here!
So I’ll be taking N3, or JLPT in general, for the first time, and I’m VERY nervous. I already went through most of the N3 related posts here and solved some practice tests including the one on the official site and didn’t do too bad but I still wanna get as better at it as I possibly can until the last minute.
So my question is, what are some things you consider “must know” or “must do” before JLPT? Could be specific kanjis, grammar or vocabulary points or just anything related to the exam itself.
Thanks beforehand, I love this sub it’s always very helpful.
6 comments
I try to do as many level-specific listening exercises on YouTube as I can.
I feel like for me, the most important thing is (kanji) vocabulary. Every time I struggle with a section, it’s because I just don’t know the words that they’re using. I’m focusing on vocab from here out.
Asking this question 3 days before the test lol.
https://youtu.be/yECmEMgKWuM?si=GyTP7TCalNo20e9q
If you’re looking to cram, here’s a one hour video of the most important N3 grammar (video made for prep right before the exam)
One thing I didn’t realize when I took the n3, is that the 3 sections you take the exam in, are NOT exactly the same as the 3 sections the exam is scored in. The exam time is split up into vocab, grammar & reading, listening. And scoring is split into vocab & grammar, reading, listening. I spent too much time on grammar, not realizing reading was going to be scored entirely on its own. You need to pass each section’s score threshold as well as the overall score threshold so make sure you leave enough time for the reading passages.
For the last like month to a few weeks before the test, you shouldn’t be cramming anything. Just focus on reviewing the stuff you know so that you know it well, instead of kinda knowing a bunch of stuff (but not necessarily well enough to pass the test with)
In general, if you need to pick/choose, reviewing grammar a lot is helpful because the number of terms you need to know for the test are far fewer than the number of kanji or vocabulary that get tested. So if you brush up your grammar enough, it should (in theory) be an easier section to score points
I would also just strongly recommend doing practice tests, especially for the listening, because the format of the questions is very different from that used on tests in my home country. I remember when I studied abroad, being very confused the first time I received a JLPT style test from the Japan school because my American school’s Japanese class still used American formatted questions (Ex: I got tripped up on the organizing the sentence and choosing the word that gets the star space style question)